Letter to the Hon. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States - Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge President Trump To Oppose China's Bid To Lead The U.N. World Intellectual Property Org., Say China's Repeated Violations Of Intellectual Property Protections Disqualifying

Letter

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our concern about China's intent to lead the World Intellectual Property Organization at the United Nations and the threat this poses to both U.S. economic security and the integrity of international intellectual property rights and standards.

Last month, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reportedly nominated a candidate to head this organization, which was established as a global forum for intellectual property policy and cooperation and to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world. Given China's persistent violations of intellectual property protections, including through trade secret theft, corporate espionage, and forced transfer of technology, the United States and its allies must stand firmly against such a move.

The CCP is strategically investing in and developing critical and emerging technologies as part of Made in China 2025 and other aggressive industrial policies. These initiatives include a patchwork of practices and tactics which coerce American companies to transfer their technology and intellectual property to domestic Chinese corporations with the effect of undermining U.S. innovation and economic leadership. In addition, Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies, which is thought to be influenced by the CCP and presents clear risks to U.S. national security, was the top corporate filer of international patent applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018.

Your administration has repeatedly expressed concerns about the shortcomings in China's intellectual property regime. Notably, the Office of the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) Special 301 Report declares China a "precarious and uncertain environment" for U.S. owners of all types of intellectual property. China also remains on USTR's Priority Watch List for failing to make fundamental changes to strengthen intellectual property protection and enforcement and for engaging in harmful conduct, including unauthorized intrusions and theft from networks of U.S. companies.

Mr. President, you have also accused China of "theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale" in an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September. We cannot let a regime, which continues to blatantly undermine the rules-based system by failing to ensure open markets or respect for intellectual property rights, ascend as the leader of global intellectual property policy.

Therefore, we urge you to oppose China's leadership in the World Intellectual Property Organization and take the necessary diplomatic steps to ensure our allies and partners do the same before the Director General election next spring.